1. Learn to start with an upstroke.
You should not attempt this until you are very proficient at alternate picking. So why would you want to do alternate picking starting with an upstroke? Simple. It will greatly enhance your picking speed and dexterity. Many times you will be in the middle of a solo, and there will be a quick pause on a note, followed by new series of notes that need to be executed quickly. Since the last note you picked was a downstroke before the pause, you want to become efficient at playing a series of notes starting with an upstroke. This might not make a lot of sense to you now, but it’s an important tool to have in your arsenal and you should learn it well. It looks like the opposites of the 1st TAB exercise:
Ex #2 ---1---2---3---4---1---2---3---4----------- ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- U D U D U D U D
As I mentioned at the top of this lesson, 95% of the time you will want to start every riff or solo with a downstroke, however there are times when an upstroke will be the best way to begin. Which leads up to the next trick…
2. Inside and Outside Picking
Sometimes in the middle of a solo or melodic passage you will be picking between several strings. Most guitarists are used to picking on the outside of the strings during a riff (see example #3). Other times you will feel trapped between two strings, and because of this stroke pattern you may feel out of sync. When this happens you want to land on your feet and not fall all over yourself. Here are a few exercises that will focus on improving your picking from a down, or up-starting position.
We’ll start with Outside picking because this is the easiest to master: Remember to use the alternate picking starting with down-up-down. Note: there are only a few notes here in this example, but keep playing this exercise for several minutes non-stop (with a metronome if you have one). Then increase your speed as you get better.
Ex #3 - Outside picking example -------7--------7--------7--------7--------7--- --5--------5--------5--------5--------5-------- ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- D U D U D U D U D U
Now here are the same notes, only started from the inside of the two strings and using alternate picking, beginning with an upstroke. Stay with the alternate picking (this time up-down-up-down) and you’ll see what I mean by being “stuck in-between” two strings.
Ex #4 - Inside picking example -------7--------7--------7--------7--------7---- --5--------5--------5--------5--------5--------- ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ U D U D U D U D U D
Now it’s time to explore the third section of this lesson…
3. String Skipping
Food for thought:
- Most scales go from string to string in a linear order.
- Most beginning guitar players use scales exclusively for guitar solo construction.
- Real solos and songs aren’t always linear, most great melodies jump around the neck.
- In jumping around the neck, you are skipping over strings ie “string skipping”.
It is important to learn to be proficient at string skipping for three reasons:
- Great solos and melodies have variations, string skipping is essential to playing these.
- String skipping will GREATLY improve your picking technique as a guitarist.
- String skipping sounds cool Dadgummit!!
Here are two examples.
The first one is WITHOUT string skipping, the second one is WITH.
They are both based on an A barre chord. Don’t forget to use alternate picking.
Ex #5 - Without: String skipping ------------------------------------------------ ---------------5-------------------------------- ------------6----------------------------------- ---------7-------------------------------------- ------7----------------------------------------- ---5-------------------------------------------- D U D U D
Ex #6 - With: String Skipping ------------------------------------------------ -------------------5---------------------------- ------------6---------6------------------------- ------7--------7-------------------------------- ---------7-------------------------------------- ---5-------------------------------------------- D U D U D U D
Now that you have seen and heard the difference of how string skipping can effect the notes of even a simple chord, here’s what we are going to do next. I will give you a very basic string skipping exercise and a few variations to practice. Don’t just go over this once or twice, but make it part of your everyday practice routine until string skipping becomes second nature for you. It will open some amazing doors for you on your journey to guitar mastery as well as increase your picking speed. Also remember to use Alternate Picking (down-up-down) and play the riffs over and over (not just once as in the examples below) for one minute each.
Ex #7 ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ --------5--7------------------------------------ -5--8------------------------------------------- D U D U
Ex #8 ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ---------5---7---------------------------------- -5---8------------------------------------------ U D U D
Final exercise
Notice that there are only three notes in the riff. Since it’s not divisible by two (1 Down and 1 Up), the picking will alternate itself each time you play through the cycle. Notice how when you hit the A note on the E string the first time, you will be down picking, but the next time (if you are alternate picking correctly) you play the same note it will be an upstroke. This will alternate each time you cycle through it.
Ex #9 ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ---------5-------------------------------------- --5--7------------------------------------------ D U D
Keep playing the riff above in a non-stop pattern. Try to use a metronome if one is available. Even though this may feel strange at first, you are keeping with the principal of Alternate Picking. As I said before, learn these lessons well, and in addition to increasing your picking speed and dexterity you will never be stuck in the middle of a run, lick or pattern.
Last but not least, if you are still reading this, remember…
Someday you are going to be an excellent guitar player! Maybe even one of the best the world has ever seen! These types of exercises are like laying the foundation of a skyscraper. Make sure your foundation is SOLID. Only then, will you have the support to reach for the sky! -Tommy Merry